Some hometown coverage of Kellyville’s finest:
Australian Grant Balfour stars for Tampa Bay Rays
Easy to think Aussies playing baseball is an anomaly, but it’s an up and coming region as any scout will tell you. Some teams are later than others getting over there, but in terms of baseball prospecting, Australia might be the world’s most underrated […]

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Back in August. 90 degrees and near 90% humidity. Cuba and Korea are facing off for the second of two pre Olympic exhibitions in Seoul. I’m watching the game at Jamsil Stadium with Dan from MyKBO and it’s only the first or second inning. We’re sitting in the first row of the reserved seating but fans […]

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I saw this a week ago on Baseball Think Factory and just finally got around to reading it. I expected a little more, but that might due to the fact that it’s about Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese coming together to play a baseball game in Xinjiang, the remote province in Western China.
It’s still worth a […]

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Word out of L.A. is that oft-injured fireballer Kuo Hong-Chih may be ready to join the L.A. Dodgers playoff roster in the (sorry Aaron) likely event that the Dodgers advance to the NLCS.  Kuo, who broke out this year with a 2.14 E.R.A and 96 K’s in 80 innings pitched, would add depth to an […]

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Looks like EWC knows how to light a fire under a guy.  After a recent post detailing pitcher Luther Hackman’s struggles in the CPBL, the big right-hander has responded with two straight dominant victories and seventeen straight scoreless innings for the Tong-Yi Lions.
Hackman has regained his command, striking out 12 and walking just one in […]

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Word coming out of Taiwan is that (now former) Chinese Taipei manager Hong Yi-Chen has been removed from his duties as the Chinese Taipei manager in preparation for the upcoming 2009 World Baseball Classic.
While poor management and questionable roster selection for the 2008 Olympics certainly played a role, Taiwan’s now infamous 8-7 loss to China […]

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The Cleveland Indians announced the signing of right-hander Lee Chen Chiang on Tuesday, with an approximate signing bonus rumored to be between 350,000 and 400,000. 
The 5′11 Lee, whose stock rose as one of the few bright spots during Taiwan’s ill-fated olympic run, pitched quite well against Cuba’s lineup, giving up just one earned in seven innings. He […]

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Congratulations to La New’s Gary Burnham, who recently broke the CPBL hitting-streak record for foreign players with a hit in 23 consecutive games.   Burnham had 38 hits during the streak, which began May 11th and ended September 1st.
Burnham’s record broke the previous mark of 22 games set by the Brother Elephants Luis De Los Santos in […]

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In a recent interview with Yahoo!,  Brother Elephants lefty Yeh Ding-Jen addressed Napoleonic manager Hong Yi-Chen’s proposed rule to require a minimum $200,000 signing bonus as well as recent comments from various athletic department directors questioning how well U.S. teams take care of players from overseas.
Yeh, who signed for $80,000 out of college, was initially […]

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This article was first published by Yahoo! on Andy Behrens’ exceptional baseball blog Roto Arcade on September 13, 2008. It is a preview of potential Japanese free agents for 2009. Warning to Westbay-San: Darvish rumors enclosed. Read at own risk.

With Daisuke Matsuzaka’s emergence as Boston’s ace, Ichiro’s Hall of Fame-caliber MLB career, and the early […]

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Former Cardinal (and Rocky and Padre) Luther Hackman has been trying to tread water with the Tong-Yi Uni-President 7-11 Lions this season. The 6′4, 200-plus pound righty has struggled despite still bringing a 93-94 MPH fastball. The primary issue has been command: 18 strikeouts to only 14 walks in 24 innings, […]

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Breaking news from Taiwan:  According to a Liberty Times article (Chinese, try your best and/or try your skills at the google translator), a certain beloved Taiwanese manager has descended from the clouds to propose a new edict:  Any amateur player signed for under 200,000 will no longer be eligible for play in the CPBL upon […]

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While big ticket items like Darvish Yu and Uehara Koji  gobble up headlines as the next big thing to come out of Japan, crafty left-hander/magician Naruse Yoshihisa continues to make quiet noise as one of Japan’s top starting pitchers.
While Naruse still has a ways to go before he is eligible for free agency, it’s hard not to […]

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Lefty Ni Fu-Te put on a clinic of left-handed relief work Wednesday night in Beijing, picking up the win by tossing 5 strong shutout innings with six K’s.  Outfielder Lin Che-Hsuan broke out of his slump, going  3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a HR as Taiwan took advantage of the glorious Olympic extra inning rule, […]

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The U.S. beat Chinese Taipei 4-2 today as Taiwan’s disastrous Olympic campaign continued. Taiwan fell to 1-5 in Beijing, with increasingly angry and fed-up Taiwanese fans clamoring for answers.
U.S. Starter Brandon Knight picked up the win on 6 1/3 strong innings, and power /speed combo lefty outfielder Dexter Fowler drove in the games go-ahead […]

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Today, the Taiwanese national team breezed past the mighty Netherlands squad 5-0 in their opening Olmpic salvo (Way to save one of your better starters for the big games, by the way).   With questionable pitching depth on the national team roster, one question begs to be answered:
Why is Cubs pitcher Chen Hung-Wen– who was just […]

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From the Guardian:
The island’s baseball association has applied to WADA to have Chang take another urine test, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
The player may have taken a Chinese cold medication that contains a banned substance, an official with Taiwan’s Olympic Committee told Reuters. Players were advised to avoid these medications during the Games, he said.
“The […]

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Just got back from scouting the latest Chinese Taipei/Brother Elephants matchup in Taichung. The Elephants beat the Olympic squad 7-6. Or something. It was an exciting 6-6 game going into the 10th, dramatic comebacks, great plays at the plate. Until the extra frames.
I could tell you about the fun atmosphere, lively crowds. […]

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It seems like rumors of the CPBL’s demise have become as predictable as Nick Markakis’ second-half surges, but things have gone from bad to worse for Taiwan’s professional league in recent weeks. Just a few days after the Brother Elephants–Taiwan’s most popular professional team–threatened to fold at the end of the 2007 season, new […]

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Taiwan has been clobbering Hong Kong and China in the Little League and Pony League Asia Pacific regional tournaments. In the Bronco division, Taiwan defeated Hong Kong 29-0 (!) in a matchup that played like an unintentionally comic Pacific theatre re-enactment of the Bad News Bears, sans the uplifting unexpected comeback.
Hearts went out […]

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